Over the last 4 years, my blog post in the final week leading into Christmas has followed the same theme – about ‘presence’ over presents. As a father, husband, son, brother, uncle, godfather and friend, I’ve gradually come to realise over the years that the magical time of Christmas is an opportunity for so much more than giving and receiving nicely wrapped presents.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to give presents, and my kids in particular love opening them but what I’d really like to teach them by example over the years, is how to be fully present and create rich memories.
I hope you’ve had a fantastic year in your property businesses, and after pushing hard to finish strong all December we can look forward to some quality down time this Christmas. It’s such a special time where we can really be intentional about making memories with family and friends.
Each Christmas week I like to share a few ideas I’ve picked up over the years about how we can enhance the time we have with our loved ones and create enriching and lasting memories.
Here they are:
#1: CAPTURE THE MEMORIES
-make a conscious effort to pull the phone out and take some quality pictures of your loved ones laughing, playing, dancing etc (be sure not to bury your head in texts or social media, get back to that family meal/game/chat and really be there). Then be sure to schedule time over the holidays to compile your photos into an album (physical or online) to share with those you love for years to come.
#2: TIME vs TRINKETS
-in place of impulse buying gifts to bulk up what’s under the tree, write out a Christmas card or hand decorated note with a selection of experiences you will share with that person next year (I love this one – I started this 2 Christmases ago for each of my kids and in each year that followed we created wonderful memories and photos together and I know that they appreciated the 1-to-1 time when often everyone is talking over each other.)
#3: DON’T JUST GET TOGETHER, GIVE TOGETHER
-It has been said that families who give together make lasting and meaningful memories together.
-This might be organising a financial donation to a chosen charity, giving out soup and sandwiches to the homeless or any number of different charitable things.
-Every 2 years my extended family get together and for that occasion my wife and I organise a surprise dress up night with a twist, a little like a secret santa where we all buy an outfit from a charity shop for another family member on a £25 budget. There are 18 of us so we donate in the region of £450 to various charities by buying up old clothes and random accessories, and then after the party we then donate all the goods to Cancer Research for them to sell on again.
I hope some of these ideas resonate and helps other property people out there to be fully PRESENT this Christmas and to create rich memories.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas